I got a new art toy recently. It’s called a Gelli plate, and it makes gelatin monoprints sooooo much easier than in the past. Instead of explaining how to make a gelatin plate for printing, I’m going to point you to a great tutorial on The Sketchbook Challenge site, because there’s also a ton of…
Some days, I wake up feeling the pressure of everything that has to be done that day, and taking time out to work in my journal seems like a luxury I can’t afford. Some days, I am so exhausted at the end of the day, I just want to crawl in bed and sleep. Some…
A couple of weekends ago, we had a beautiful 70-degree day with this year’s glorious fall colors just hitting their peak. On the spur of the moment, I grabbed my backpack and headed out to paint with a friend. I had forgotten to bring masking tape, so I couldn’t tape down my paper to keep…
Get out the Crayolas with no apologies! A report in this week’s Huffington Post on coloring as a great stress-buster for adults is making a splash on Facebook and other media outlets. It seems coloring—for adults—is all the rage in Europe, and just starting to be trendy in the U.S. Well, ha! We’re on the cutting…
I keep finding myself telling followers of this blog about these fun little how-to videos I’m making for my beginning watercolor classes. Three in particular—on brush-drawing—just seem perfect for journallers. Brush drawing is a great way to try to see and capture the essence of something—both how it looks and how it feels. In a brush…
Well, actually, I think pretty much everything is sacred. But, even sacred things can evolve, develop and transform. So your journal pages certainly can! In fact, if you don’t transform certain journal pages, they become the journal equivalent of that mysterious plastic container at the back of the refrigerator. The one that you know you’d better throw away…
The moon is full this coming Monday night and it looks like we might have clear skies here in the Twin Cities area. One of the things I love to do in my art and in my journaling is celebrate the natural world—changing seasons, dramatic weather, the plants and animals I live among. And the full…
I’ve heard the lament from quite a number of you: you bought a lovely journal, and you think the activities I’ve been posting look really fun and interesting, but you are too busy to journal right now. Maybe later, when life calms down a bit . . . I feel your pain! I don’t know about…
As I was returning home from a reception Monday night, there was a spectacular light show from some large thunderstorms to the north. The storms were far enough away that the thunder wasn’t audible, and I couldn’t see ground strikes. Instead, the massive clouds were illuminated from within by flickering lightning. Overhead, the sky was…
Artists have created self-portraits for ages, probably more for what the artists discover about themselves than as a way to create a likeness to show to the world. As with most things in Creative Energy Journaling, this activity is design to give you some of the benefits of the exercise of creating a self-portrait, without having to know how to draw or paint, and without spending hours and hours staring into a mirror.
What is a mask for? We all wear them. For politeness, for privacy, for protection. Sometimes out of kindness. Sometimes out of fear. Think about how it feels to wear an actual, physical mask. A mask conceals identity. But a mask also expresses an identity. When you wear a mask, are you conscious of a…
The biggest benefit of drawing is that drawing changes how you see. Drawing is a form of active meditation, a mindfulness practice, and a wonderful stress-reliever. That all sounds great. But what if you can’t draw? I have good news: the worse your drawing skills are, the easier today’s “drawing” activities will be for you! Back when I…
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